Speakers bring quiet fight against extremism to Soka

ALISO VIEJO – For Kerry Noble, the realization that hope is greater than hate came in 1983. Inside a gay church in Kansas City.

He was waiting to set the timer on a bomb that would have blown up the sanctuary filled with at least 70 gay and lesbian Christians – praying and singing hymns – on a Sunday morning.

That's when Noble, then the "propaganda leader" of a radical Christian terrorist organization, realized that he was walking on a path from which there was no return.

On Monday night, Noble was one of five speakers on a panel discussion organized by Soka University titled "Ending Violent Extremism." The panel featured four others: Linda Biehl, mother of Newport Beach Fulbright scholar, Amy Biehl, who was murdered in South Africa 20 years ago by an angry mob of anti-apartheid activists; Maajid Nawaz, a former Islamist who now runs an anti-extremism think-tank; Paul Carillo and Eric Gibson, former gang members from Los Angeles who now run gang intervention programs; and Noble, the former cult leader who now works to counsel and bring people out of extremist movements.

Nawaz says it is difficult for Muslims to speak out against Islamic extremism because they become targets almost immediately.

"I'm on the hit list of at least three Islamic extremist organizations," he said.

Nawaz, a former member of the Islamist group, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, was arrested in December 2001 in Egypt, where he was sent to work toward overthrowing the then government with a military coup. He was arrested in December 2001 and imprisoned there until 2006.

His views on extremism changed when he was adopted by Amnesty International as a "prisoner of conscience," Nawaz told the audience at Soka. This was part of Amnesty International's campaign to free those imprisoned because of their religious, political or other beliefs.

Nawaz said the problem with extremism in the Muslim world is that there is no "democratic brand" in those countries. There is a brand of extremism, however, which has been energized over time by half truths. For example, he said, the militant groups may tell their followers that the United States and Great Britain were sending troops to kill innocent civilians in Iraq. But they would omit information that millions of people in both countries opposed the war.

"Our challenge is to provide the other half of the narrative – give them the whole truth," he said. "Our challenge is to create a Coca-Cola to their Pepsi."

Nawaz's group Quilliam, based in Newport Beach, aims to create a "democratic narrative" to counter the one presented by extremists, especially in Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Northern Africa. He says his efforts are still in a nascent stage and hopes it will catch on in the future when younger generations understand the value of peace and democracy.

Gibson, who became paralyzed from the waist down after a gang shooting, said his life turned around after he went from being a perpetrator to a survivor. He said street gangs are not much different from terrorist groups.

"I was rolling a joint when I was 8 where a young terrorist was making a bomb," he said.

Carillo said any type of intervention must be undertaken with sensitivity and a plan.

"We don't demonize the gang or gang members," said Carillo. "We counsel them and usher them into programs that can change their lives."

Linda Biehl, the only survivor among the panelists, talked about after-school and HIV education programs the Amy Biehl Foundation runs in impoverished townships near Cape Town, South Africa.

Biehl said she and her family saw how black South Africans suffered under the apartheid regime. Responding to a question from an audience member about how to help communities one may know little about, Biehl said it's all about "stepping out of your comfort zone."

"We didn't go into South Africa believing that we knew everything and had all the answers," she said. "We let people know that even if we can't walk in their shoes, we can walk beside them."

Ross Frenett, manager of Against Violent Extremism, a global network of former extremists and survivors, encouraged everyone to get involved in this effort.

"Don't think you cannot do it," he said. "Are you on Facebook? Congratulations, you are a social media expert and you can help."

Nawaz said what he and others are doing may seem ambitious, maybe even quixotic, but necessary.

"During World War II, having a European Union must have seemed unimaginable," he said. "Eradicating extremism is a vision. If there is no vision, there is no progress."